 He won the 1987 St. Petersburg Championship, an event that is stronger than most national championships.Other tournament successes include 3rd-4th with Vladimir Akopian at the New York Open Championship in 1998,
first at the Monarch Assurance PLC 11th International Chess Tournament in Isle of Man 2002, and 1st–3rd with Vladimir Burmakin and Marijan Petrov at the 21st Le Touquet Open in 2006.He was one of the seconds (assistants) to Anatoly Karpov during the late stages of Karpov's career (from 1987 to 1996).